Forum - View topic[OT] Calligraphy.
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11434 Location: Frisco, TX |
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I don't know why, but when I woke up this morning, I had this really big urge to learn calligraphy.
I did some browsing through Google and found some sites that explain the overall jist of how calligraphy is much revered and honored as a form of art (as well as writing) in East Asian countries. After looking at some samples and doing a little thinking, I thought, "ah, what the heck," and now I'm really curious to know more and more about it. Plus, I figure I could use a new hobbie other than watching anime, Asian movies, sports, and playing video games. 
And so, I'm asking any of you who may also (or already do) find this intersting where I should start. I don't really have the time to go to an actual calligraphy class yet, but I'm willing to devote a lot of effort into books. However, after looking on the Barnes and Noble site, I just couldn't tell which book was right for me (there's so many...  ).
Let's see... first, I suppose I'll need a starter kit with the brushes, ink, etc. But beyond that, I have absolutley NO clue where to go next  .
Can anyone recommend some material or give any pointers? I find calligraphy to be very beautiful to look at, and I would very much like to learn it. Thank you! 
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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All right, now, this is a subject I have a great deal of experience with - I've been an amateur calligrapher for more than a quarter of a century, and I've dabbled in both Western-style and Asian calligraphy (although I will admit that the former is my strong suit).
First question: Western or Asian? This isn't an idle question, because the approaches are radically different. Some of the skills are interchangeable, but they are overall so different as to be two different art forms. If Western is your choice, I recommend a good introductory text - something like Diana Hardy Wilson's The Encyclopedia of Calligraphy Techniques. If Asian calligraphy is what you're after, I'm afraid I can't recommend a good starter book - I'm self-taught in that area. However... any good book on kana or kanji will show you the "flow" of a character (the order in which to lay down the strokes) - this will give you a good idea of the way to approach them. Western calligraphy was very formalised, once upon a time - nowadays, it has been influenced by modern art, and has become an eclectic mix of forms and styles, with nearly any tool being applicable. For real beginners, I recommend buying a set of cheap felt-tip pens in varying widths, and with varying heads. You can get felt-tip pens with soft brush heads, or with angled heads (to simulate a quill pen). Buy some good drawing paper, something that doesn't soak out the ink too much, and start practicing letter forms from a calligraphy book. The point is, the start-up costs are not prohibitive. The really expensive gear can wait until you've learned the basics. Practice. Practice some more. Drink some {beer / coffee / tea / blood of a freshly slain unicorn / whatever}. Then practice some more. Whether Asian or Western - pay attention to the way you hold your writing implements. Western calligraphers hold their pens at an angle to the surface. Asian calligraphy is mostly done with the pen in perpendicular position. But most of all... practice, practice, practice. A teacher is good, a book is fine - but all of these are no substitute for practice. - abunai |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11434 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Ah, yes. I'm sorry, I meant Asian calligarphy
, and I found a book in a library about a year and half ago that implies the idea you mentioned about the number of strokes and pronunciations of kanji, but I've since returned the book and no longer live in that area  .
However, I'm optimistic in finding a good book out there, and I'm really excited to get the chance to practice as you say I should  .
I write left-handed, if that means anything, but I think most people (whether it be callipraphy for handwriting) use the right side, though if calligraphy is as fluent as I think it is (in relation to brush stroking), then I think I'll be just fine using my right hand instead (since I primarily used to paint with it). So I should start with felt tip pens, eh? Well, in conjunction with the actual techinque of calligraphy, does it really matter? I mean, the whole perpendicular brush-to-paper form is pretty important, right? But being a complete beginner in this field, I guess it's better to start somewhere than not at all. 
Well, I'll look into it some more. Thank you very much Sir abunai, you are a very kind and knowledgable savant. 
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Check out the artschool in your area. Mine used to offer Chinese Calligraphy, so it doesn't seem a new thing to them. Right now I'm asking the teacher that if he were to get enough students intrested, if he could start the class again.
Some art schools allow partime students, or offer courses to the public, so maybe you'll get lucky and find a class. |
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Arkard
 Posts: 677 Location: Poland |
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I study Japanology at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków (Poland) and one of my after class activities is caligraphy at the local Japanese Center.
Now - to actually learn CALIGRAPHY you will probably need a teacher. But if you want to learn Kanji - the number of strokes, the order of the strokes etc, I recommend "Basic Kanji Book" [Chieko Kano, Yuri Shimizu, Hiroko Takenaka, Eriko Ishii]. The book is in mixed Japanese/English so dont worry - you will understand it. I think it has 3 volumes. I heard the book is often used at universities who have japanese courses. I am sure if you look around you will find it. Good luck. |
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ganzo
Posts: 53 |
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hehe how interesting, I can't believe I run into a post like this. I don't suppose this has anything to do with anime other than you get jpnized by watching anime and want to know about their culture...
Its not that easy to get at least a bit good at it, and trust I went through that, its easy to be bad, its damn hard to get very good at it(literally). If the idea just come up to your mind, then maybe you should reconsider, its not a easy hobby, and you need to be prepared to stick to it and be persistent. If you appreciate the beauty of it then perhaps you should keep on appreciate it like app anime. I use to do chinese ones which is pretty much similar to jp ones, I did it since little for more than 10 years, then other things come up and I just had no time for it anymore. You need brush ink paper, learn it yourself or get a teacher(like what the others said). You need a lot time and must use it for daily practice, if you do it weekly, then don't bother. There is a lot of knowledge on this stuff since its somthing orignated from thousands of year ago. Don't know about jp, but in cn, its a field that can be professed and get fame by selling the artwork or doing it in big ceremonies. There are differnt kinds of paper for writing, one for practice, and two differnt type of expensive ones for drawing and writing, Im sure there are other types I don't know, and I don't know what they call them in english. For the brush, there are various types for writing(big for big word, small for small word, material made from wolf, sheep and so on), and a different type for painting. For practice, you only need a single medium large brush, that basically serve the purpose well. For ink, there are good ones and bad ones, the bad ones usually are either too liquid or too thick and smell bad. The good ones are smoother when write and smells good, after writing your word will shine. You can also get the manually rock ones, but they take too much time. For the writing form, there are many different form because there are different forms that are orignated from differnt masters and usually masters from ancient time. But for starters, the more standard ones are usually practiced. When practice you need to know how to write the words, the hirigana, the kanji, which is chinese characters, you need to understand the basics like which part of the writing is stressed, how to make a line or a dot. You need to know the meaning of the word because the things you write usually come from tombs or ancient master's calligraphy books, or perhaps some modern one like mao. The writing is usually philosophical or poetic, so understanding the meaning is a way to feel the word feel the meaning, and in a way make you write better. When write(for more advance understanding), you need to think it as a whole picture rather then just want to make a single character look good. I think some stuff I said are a bit too much for starter, all you need is a practice book to write on for now. There are also rules like what is artfully right and beautiful for writing the characters and a more understanding of jp/cn culture would be better. |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11434 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Jeez, I can't believe you revived this
 . Anyway, the idea for calligraphy actually came from watching too many Chinese movies. It looked like such a beautiful and elegant thing to do that it just kind of got stuck in my head.
Unfortunately, I'm kind of in a learning limbo at college right now and would much rather figure this out first. I recently dropped my previous major of Biology to try out something in Business. I've no idea what yet, but I figure whatever I choose would open up more opportunities since a lot of the U.S. revolves around this particular field. Until then though, calligraphy will have to wait. Thanks for the tips!
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ganzo
Posts: 53 |
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hehehehe, so much for that, see, it takes too much time, thats why those old people practice it, perhaps its somthing for suitable for the retired. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Well, since it's resurrected...
It is considered a form of art, just like paintings. In fact, calligraphy and painting are two major form of "intelligentsia art," and handicraft art forms, such as sculpture, were once considered inferior.
The practice paper usually has yellow color. The formal paper, which is pure white, is made of both wood and cotton fiber.
It's very easy to mistake mint (黃鼠狼; specifically, Japanese mink) hair with wolf (狼) hair. The wolf hair is rarely used. Mint-hair brush (狼毫), on the other hand, is the most common hair for small to medium sized brushes.
Rock?!  That's charcoaled lumber, mixed with resin and fragrance. Ink produced by grinding an ink block has much better quality than synthetic liquid ink.
It's rather rare to acquire calligraphy from a tombstone. Those tombstone-looking giant stone slabs (usually 2-3 meters tall) are monumental "graffiti," usually contain words of praise for great deeds, composed on the order of the emperor, such as the completion of a large scale construction or battle victory.
*Cough* his style is not for beginners. Besides, there are many better ones to imitate. *cough*
I'd like to agree, but most text are difficult even for native speakers today. Most current calligraphy books are after masters between Jin (晉) to Tang (唐) dynasties, when most written articles were in strict 4-6 syllables style (駢文), which is even worse than the ancient texts (散文) in Zhou dynasty and works after its revival after mid-Tang, which has little (if any) restrictions on rhyme.
That's a really good suggestion.
Traitor. 
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ganzo
Posts: 53 |
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hahaha, one up there, you are right, I can't believe I said "wolf", hehehe, that is damn funny.
I wrote it really fast so didn't think about much, and also those stuff are kind of hard to put it into english. rock stone is in fact ink block, mao is surely not the best one to go for, but hey, I just want to be fun, and his name come up to my mind, personally I liked his style, but trust me I never practiced based on his style, copying his words from his red pocket book is rather boring, but I know people who do it, must be bored out of their mind/jk. |
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